LATEST HOMILY
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 19, 2025

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Focus: Our requests in prayer is prayer with God.  

Function: Pray to God, not so prayers may be answered. But to answer God In Prayer.  

A. Dear God. . . 

Have you ever prayed to God to take, Something away from you? Is it something you are really embarrassed about?  Or is it something you wished to be fixed? You are on your knees; “Dear God….” Please remove lust and promiscuous behavior from, my heart.  Lord, please heal my relationship with my spouse, children, other relatives. Many of the times we pray to God, we ask Him to give us the strength to deal with, something that is a problem or someone, that has been causing problems. And I am sure many of us, if not all of us, have felt as if God has left us on hold. It’s a struggle to hear God love you. When your prayers do not get answered. Or you felt as if God left you on the back burner. 

B. Can you hear me God? 

Eventually we come to the point. Where we become really doubtful and wonder should, I keep coming to Mass and keep praying in general. We sit and wait patiently, until something happens! It is all about timing!  But eventually we may realize some of those prayers, do not become answered. And things may become worse. And we wonder: “With everything that is happening to me, does God really love me?  Is it me doing something? Am I not doing something right?” We become sad, and lonely and wonder to ourselves: “What could, I have possibly done tik God off?!  I must have done something for God to stop listening.  I must have done something wrong, because everyone else seems to be getting what, they ask for. They seem to be functioning normal and all is well.  For, Them. What am I doing to wrong?”

C.God: “You Can’t Hear Me!” 

If you have ever felt this way in prayer.  You are not alone. I do not know of one soul who did not feel this way, in prayer.  This is all human weakness. This is way we allow the enemy to creep in and pull, us always from what really matters with God. And the one thing that really matters, it is payer and relationship with God. The reason why many of us believe that God isn’t, listening to prayers is because we are not listening, to God. God speaks the loudest in His Magnanimous whispers. The problem is we want to be in a shouting match, with God or stay in our heads when God is trying, His very best to tell us what we need. It is like the person who ask for cooler weather, but the minute it rains they complain about,  How wet the roads are going to be. Our very prayer to God many of times is God, answering our prayers. And the answer to that request we make, is always fulfilled in having a relationship with Him….. There is no greater thing, there is no other blessed reality, no other saving grace than having a relationship, with Christ. And in doing so we come to realize, that in that one relationship we are given all we can, ever ask for. In the world we live in today, people have so many things to escape the, void of feeling empty. Look at how many young adults in there 20’s and 30’s, always want to travel. They always want a vacation. They always want to do something other than the, the thing that requires work. Work and other hard realities of life, remind [us] young people that one must die to self, in order to have the one thing that we need. True love of self, God and neighbor. It takes work to realize that one thing we need in,  our lives is the love of the Savior. And prayer my friends is work. It takes work to overcome lust and promiscuity,  and that work is found in constant prayer, total and reckless abandonment to the will of God, and honesty with Jesus. Brutal honesty with Him. Healing of Family brokenness takes work.  Because it is through prayer that we find Jesus. The one healing balm that remedies that family pain. 

D.“Dear God…. I Request is to be with You!

So, it is not God not answering our prayers. It is not recognizing that in prayer itself, our prayers are answer. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday, and we see all the people living in poverty, or through the many forms of economic hardship. Some may believe that God is not answering their, prayers. I do not believe that to be so. Because Heaven’s goal is not about making, some perfect utopia of here on earth with no,  war, no violence, nor crime. Heaven’s goal is about showing the peace that, dwells in the human soul amidst wars, violence and, crime. And a soul is only able to reflect such a heavenly goal if they put in work that prayer requires. Relationship with the Jesus, Who answers all things in dialogue with Him! 

Amen!